Hilo Fuel Prices Continue Decline, Kona Steadies

Gas prices on the Big Island have continued to drop over the past several weeks.

Gas Buddy Senior Petroleum analyst Patrick DeHann says the fall is a continuation of downward pressure on oil prices as crude oil prices fell around $2 per barrel last week.

The decreases have been a welcome appearance on the Big Island, where Hilo prices were over one dollar more than the current average one year ago. Big Island Now has analyzed the latest numbers from AAA’s Fuel Gauge Report and Gas Buddy data to explore the recent fuel price drop on the Big Island.

On Tuesday, regular fuel prices in Hilo were an average of $2.91, a three-cent decrease from prices one week ago and a one-cent drop in the past 24 hours. Mid-grade fuel saw a drop of five cents in the past week, a drop to $3.01, compared to $3.06 last week. Hilo’s average for premium gas also took a four-cent slide compared to last week, to $3.12. Both mid-grade and premium fuel held their averages overnight.

Big Island Now has reported drastic fuel price drops over the past handful of weeks. While prices remain on the decline, drops in average weren’t as drastic over the last week. Despite the slowed-down pace, analysis of AAA’s report shows that the monthly comparison remains large. Regular fuel in Hilo has dropped by 31 cents, compared to one month ago, while mid-grade has dropped by 33 cents and premium fuel has decreased by 31 cents in average over the past month.

All grade levels of fuel in Hilo are over a dollar less in average price, compared to the same time in 2014. Regular fuel was $1.17 more per gallon during the third week of September in 2014. Mid-grade gasoline is an average of $1.16 more last year and premium fuel cost $1.15 more on average.

Despite both Hilo and Kona’s decreased average fuel costs over the past weeks, Kona prices seem to be leveling off. Big Island Now’s calculation of Gas Buddy data from West Hawai’i shows that regular fuel was an average of $3.15 on Tuesday, compared to $3.21 recorded last week, a drop of six cents in the past week and an 18-cent decrease over the past two weeks. However, mid-grade gasoline was about $3.32 on average, a number that has held steady over the past week. Premium fuel also saw a similar comparison, costing an average of $3.41 Tuesday, the same average that was held for the past week.

In Honolulu, the average price of regular fuel cost 11 cents less than Hilo’s average and was 41 cents lower than Kona’s average regular fuel price. Residents on Oahu are paying an average of $2.80 for regular fuel, a decrease of seven cents from last week and a total of 26 cents in the past month.

Diesel buyers in Hilo were paying an average of $4.17 on Tuesday, the same as what was reported one week ago, despite a drop to $4.14 on Monday. Honolulu diesel buyers are paying $4.48, the same average paid one week ago.

Club member-only prices, such as Costco and HFN, are excluded from this analysis and its averages.